Lunch at Sate Senayan

Jakarta - Jakarta is a city that pulses with culinary heritage, and when it comes to celebrating Indonesia’s rich food culture, few places do it better than Sate Senayan. Recently, I had the pleasure of enjoying a laid-back lunch there with Elton and my Indonesian partner Pak Arifin, and the experience was as warm and satisfying as the food we shared.

Sate Senayan, a well-established restaurant chain in Jakarta, is known for its dedication to serving authentic Indonesian cuisine in a comfortable, contemporary setting. It’s a go-to spot for locals and visitors alike who are looking to indulge in nostalgic flavors with a touch of elegance.

We arrived just after the lunch crowd, and the ambiance was perfect — not too loud, with just enough background buzz to feel lively. The décor at Sate Senayan is a tasteful blend of traditional and modern Indonesian elements, with wooden panels, batik accents, and warm lighting that makes you feel right at home.

For lunch, we kept it simple but classic. The star of the meal was, of course, the chicken satay — 10 succulent sticks, grilled to golden perfection and served with a generous helping of thick, creamy peanut sauce. The aroma of the satay alone was enough to make our mouths water. Each stick was beautifully charred on the outside, tender on the inside, and infused with that unmistakable smoky flavour that only a charcoal grill can deliver.

The satay was perfectly complemented by a side of gado-gado, Indonesia’s iconic salad dish. The version at Sate Senayan came beautifully plated — a colourful mix of steamed vegetables, boiled eggs, tofu, tempeh, and lontong (rice cakes), all drizzled with a luscious peanut dressing. The balance of textures and flavors was spot-on: crunchy cabbage, soft potatoes, and the creamy richness of the peanut sauce brought everything together in harmony. The slight kick of spice in the dressing gave it just the right edge.

Sate Senayan restaurant - one of Indonesia's famous satay restaurants

Jakarta - One of Jakarta most popular satay restaurant - Sate Senayan and was located just opposite my hotel @ Sarinah Thamrin.

Mixed Lamb satay

Satay Chicken

Ketupat (rice cakes)

Sate Kambing Buntel

Sate Kambing buntel is a traditional Indonesian dish originating from Solo in Central Java. The dish consists of minced lamb that's wrapped in caul fat and placed on bamboo skewers. The caul fat keeps the meat intact while it's cooking on the grill. Once done, sate buntel is typically served with rujak-style pickles, chili peppers, shallots, onions, tomatoes, and kecap manis.  The dish was heavily influenced by the early Arab settlers of Solo.

Tempeh Mendoan

Tempeh Mendoan is deep fried tempeh with spiced batter.  One of my best tasting tempeh ever - I loved Tempeh and cooked it myself for lunch; but this style of tempeh is so delicious.

Rumah Makan Adem Ayem

 Jakarta - We went to a Jogjakarta restaurant and the food is so special and delicious.

Rumah Makan Adem Ayem

Gudeg

Gudeg is a traditional Javanese dish from Yogyakarta. Gudeg is made from young unripe jack fruit stewed for several hours with palm sugar, and coconut milk.  Spices are added includes garlic, shallot, candlenut, coriander seed, galangal, bay leaves, and teak leaves, resulting in a reddish-brown colour to the dish

Mario and Harri

Krechek

This is Krechek which is sambal goreng krechek and is a traditional Javanese cattle skin spicy stew dish from Yogyakarta.   This is made from the soft inner skin of cow or water buffalo.  This dish was so spicy and I had to take out all the hot chilli spices.

Fried chicken with crispies

This fried chicken is so flavourful added with the crispies was so delicious.  

Harun Manis - Top 10 in Jakarta

Jakarta - I browsed around for the best Indonesian restaurants and this was one that is a must to go.   Harun Manis restaurant is located at Pavilion Apartment (next to City Walk Mall).  It was a short 10 mins taxi ride from our Hotel.  This restaurant have a wide selection of Indonesian and Javanese cuisine.

Gado Gado

Indonesian authentic salad with generous douse of peanut sauce and covered with prawn crackers.  The Gado Gado was already mixed well with the rich taste of peanut sauce and it's one of the best tasting Gado Gado I have eaten.

Soup Butut

 My all time favourite Indonesian dish - Soup Butut.  The Ox tail was very tender and full of delicious flavour.   The soup is also tasty but a bit salty.

Chicken Sate

Mutton Sate

The sate was very well marinated and tasted superb.  Each satay dish has their own sauce.

Grill large prawns

Very fresh and well grilled with rich Indonesian seasoning.  I think the seasoning could be lessen as the prawn was so fresh as not to over power the freshness of the prawn.

Wide selection of Sate to choose

This restaurant I will definitely return to taste the other dishes on their menu.  

Te Sate - Indonesian Satay restaurant

Jakarta -  This is one satay chain that is new to me - Te Sate.   The food is very good and tasty.  The interesting dish was Serabi Solo which was prepared near the entrance of the restaurant.

preparation of Serabi Solo

Chocolate Serabi Solo

Sayur Lodeh

This is an Indonesian popular dish cook with lots of vegetables.

3 flavours

There were 3 flavours - coconut, chocolate and tapioca topped with vanilla ice-cream.   It tasted so delicious.

Winged bean vegetable dish

Chicken satay

A must have at a Satay restaurant - we had chicken and mutton satay.  The mutton meat was too tough but the chicken was juicy and tender dipped into peanut sauce it was really good.